Swan Song
by Seraphina Elias
Summary: The first installment of a new theme I'm going with that's inspired by music.
1. Hello

Prequel

It had been a nice evening for the Hook and Hood family. Robin, Emma, Regina, and Killian had spent their date nights together at Granny's. The event was unplanned and spontaneous, as most things in their lives had become, but it was quiet and low key like they'd each wanted. Until they went to a pub and the rum was brought out. The ladies sipped on their wine at a table in the corner, while they watched their husbands drink at the bar until their vision blurred. They were all having a good time, up until Robin began to hit on Zelena, who had arrived only moments after they did.

Regina watched him, irritated, and asked, "What is wrong with him."

"Hey, I tried to tell you I was a better choice, but you picked him instead," Emma told her, hoping the mayor would see it as a joke, rather than an admission of her feelings. The look she received said otherwise and Emma quickly tried to calm her down, "Come on, he's drunk. He's not going to remember any of this in the morning."

"How are you so calm? Hook's grabbed almost every waitresses ass since we've been here!"

"Because I'm sitting here with you." That time she was hoping she'd notice.

Regina gave her an angry glare, "Really Miss Swan?"

"Swan? What happened to Emma?"

"When you gain some common sense and start acting like the Emma I knew three years ago, I'll start calling you by your first name again."

Emma rolled her eyes, "Common sense? Where did that even come from?"

Regina pointed at Killian as he shouted joyfully and spanked another waitress who was passing by. "I don't know how I could make a better point." She sigh, "Look, I know you love him, but he's an idiot and if you can't see something so obvious that is right in front of your own two eyes, I'm out of ways to tell you… You have horrible taste in men and every relationship you've ever been in has failed."

As calm as she was trying to be, Emma couldn't hold back after that remark. "Fuck you, Regina!" With that, she grabbed her jacket and stormed out of the bar, ignoring the quick apology that her friend was throwing to her. She was done with Regina, after all this time and all the obvious signs that woman had missed, and now she was criticising her choices? No. She refused to listen to Regina tell her how ignorant she was, after completely missing every pass Emma had ever made at her.

Present time

Emma drove down Main Street, looking at each of the shops and wondering if their days were going better than her own. She'd just met up with Regina and had a lot of thinking to do. She'd received a voicemail four days prior to their meet up and she could still hear Regina's voice, asking to meet her at Granny's. Her heart still stopped whenever she thought about those words and the tone of Regina's voice. The mayor sounded distant, yet desperate. The last time they'd spoken in person, Regina had shredded Emma's heart, so the hesitation that she could feel coming through the phone was understandable, but she felt it should have been coming from her, rather than the mayor.

Four months ago

"Hello, it's me. I was wondering if you wanted to meet me at Granny's? We need to talk about what happened to us. I don't know what changed, but I want to try and fix it if we can."

The request was simple now, but at the time, Emma and Killian had only been separated a month and she still felt the sting. Why did it hurt so much? She was never truly in love with him. Perhaps it was because the woman she'd fallen for had rejected and now so did her second choice. In any case, she deleted the message, but kept the number Regina had called from. A part of her wanted to know exactly what it was that she wanted, but the rest of her felt it wasn't necessary for her to find out. She'd made her point very clear the last time and she wasn't ready to hear anymore.

Five minutes ago

Not only had Regina come to Granny's, but so had Robin and Zelena. The meeting was so awkward and there was so much more tension than she had anticipated. Of course Robin was respectful enough to take a hint and convinced the witch to go with him on a brief stroll with their daughter, but the feelings lingered in the air and Emma had to finally say something. There her friend was, in the middle of apologizing for commenting on her relationship with Hook and she went off.

"Regina, it's not that!"

"Then what was it Miss Swan?"

"It was you! Don't you get it? It's been you this entire time. I didn't want Hook, I wanted you."

"Emma-"

"And Henry! I wanted me and you to live with Henry in a house with a white picket fence, a rose garden, and a two car garage that gets the newspaper delivered by some uncoordinated middle schooler who can never manage to throw it far enough… So in the morning one of us has to tiptoe out and get it, while the other cooks pancakes and Henry gets ready for school in his room upstairs."

"Emma, I'm sorry. I- I didn't know."

"No, because you were so 'happy' with Robin that you couldn't even see any of the signs. I tried reaching out, several times. Becoming the dark one wasn't even a clue to you. The fact that I saved Killian was because I knew you and I would never be together. If you couldn't even see that I was doing everything to save you and Henry, then he would have to be my backup plan!.. But that didn't even work."

Present time

By the time the words had escaped her mouth, it was too late for Emma to try and change the direction of the conversation. She never wanted Regina to know, she wanted her to be able to continue her life, to find her happy ending. Storming out probably wasn't the best solution, just like driving away probably made things worse, but she couldn't stand to be there any longer. She'd caused a scene and everyone, including her parents were looking at her, standing up in front of the table shouting out of the desperation that seemed to have moved from the mayor to her. Having to stand there another second would have killed her, so she did the only thing she knew to do, run. Her ringing phone broke her from her thoughts. Without even thinking about it, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Emma, it's me, come back."

"Look, just forget about it."

"No. I have more to say and I need to say it in person."

Emma let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine."

She turned the car around and headed back to Granny's. Three blocks later, she saw Robin and Zelena walking into a store. Why were they still out? Maybe no one had told them their talk had crashed and burned. Based off history, if they'd heard the news, Zelena would be throwing a party and Robin would have seemed to be on top of the world. Granted, they appeared happy, but not as happy as they should have been.

"Well at least they don't know about it." Emma said to herself.

As she pulled up to the curb, she could see Regina standing in the middle of the outdoor dining area. She threw the stick shift into the park position and turned off her car, trying not to look at anyone. Climbing out, she could feel a raindrop hit her and she looked up to find storm clouds looming. That was odd… The sky had been absolutely clear just seconds ago. Without any further delay, Emma closed her door and turned to walk around the back of her car, but Regina was standing in her way.

"You left before I could finish telling you what I called you here for."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"

The blonde suddenly found her lips locked against Regina's, as the woman she'd been in love with for so long gripped her in a kiss. The rain had gone from a sprinkle, to a light drizzle, and was beginning to pour down on them in buckets. Emma pulled away and looked at her, not believing what had just happened. The smile on Regina's face told her everything she'd wanted to hear.


	2. Like I'm Gonna Lose You

Regina's eyes flew open as she shot up in bed and screamed. Emma jolted, causing the file of paperwork that was in her lap to slide off onto the floor, several of the papers scattering. Rather than pick up the papers, she reached over and put a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. The woman turned and hid her face in her shoulder. Wrapping her arms around Regina, the blonde did her best to sooth her.

"It's okay, I'm here." Regina's grip tightened and Emma asked her, "What happened?"

The woman pulled back and wiped the tears from her face. "I don't know. We were home, we were safe. Henry was reading in his room or something. I don't know." She let out a few sobs, then continued, "You were there one minute and then next you were dead. I tried to bring you back, but my magic wasn't working. I couldn't use it."

Regina wept into her hands. She'd felt so strong and powerful, knowing that she could use just her hands to end anyone's life, but now they were plain and ordinary. The feeling of helplessness and grief overwhelmed the sense of her lover's embrace for all but a minute. Reality quickly set in and she realized that she'd just woken from a bad dream. Emma was right next to her, Henry was babysitting for David and Mary Margaret, everything was just as she'd left it before her nightmare hit.

Emma sighed as she held her, "I'm here."

"I lost you."

"No you didn't. I've been sitting here next to you the entire time," She replied as she ran her fingers through her partner's hair.

"It felt so real."

"I know," Emma insisted, "I lose touch with reality sometimes and dreams like that bring me back in. We're powerful, but not immortal. Even the gods have their weaknesses."

Emma's mind flashed back to a dream she'd had during her time as The Dark One. She could still hear Rumple's voice saying, "Do it, Dearie… You know you want to… Rip his heart out and hide it away where no one can ever find it."

She remembered hugging Henry and walking away, leaving him and his heart in the middle of the room as she fought with herself to keep calm, doing her best to hide the inner struggle that was slowly stealing her sanity away. Her right hand began to ache as she closed her eyes and recalled punching the wooden post. Flesh tore as the tissue on her knuckles met the hard wooden surface. Biting down on her lip to keep from letting out a scream of pain, she felt the warmth and metallic taste of blood seep into her mouth. She's finally had enough, listening to him taunting her, tempting her to do things she'd never thought to do. Taking off at full speed, she ran to the forest and didn't bother stopping until every building, including the clock tower was hidden by the trees. Standing out in the middle of the timberland, she lifted her head and screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" That was the last she'd heard from him.

A tender kiss brought her back to their reality and she realized she'd begun to cry. Tears slowly flowed down her face, being wiped away before they could get past her cheeks. Her face was being held by Regina. The two of them rested their foreheads against one another. Her lover gently whispered, "I love you."

Emma replied, "I love you more. Always will." And she meant it. The thought of ever losing her or Henry made her cringe. She was going to love them like she'd never see them again… Like she was losing them.


End file.
